Rolling Stones
by Drunken Little Monkey
Summary: Slight AU. 6 years after the Hundred Year War. Rebels have broken Ozai and Azula and have overthrown Zuko to continue their world dominance. It's up to the Avatar and his friends to save the world again. Taang
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first fic that I've written in years….. My OTP is Taang and Zutara and since there aren't many serialized Taang fics out there, I have decided to throw mine in and hopefully it turns out alright :D To be honest, I thought Kataang ruined the ending for ATLA that I couldn't stand to watch it again without skipping through to my favourite parts. I do apologize if the characters seem out of….character :P. Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

Summary: Slight AU. 6 years after the Hundred Year War. Rebels have broken Ozai and Azula and have overthrown Zuko to continue their world dominance. It's up to the Avatar and his friends to save the world again. Taang

Disclaimer: If I had owned ATLA, I would've changed the pairings.

********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************/

Chapter 1

Aang walked quickly through the forest, listening for any Fire Nation soldiers that may be lurking in the forest. His Earthbending teacher and friend, Bumi had said that he would be meeting up with one of the White lotus squads somewhere around here. It had been 6 years since the end of the Hundred Years War, and the era of Peace had finally begin… or so they thought. Zuko, who finally became the Fire Lord had his hands busy with putting down rebellions while trying to bring peace to the colonies and his nation. However, due to the many years of war, the Fire Nation was close to bankruptcy and there began a civil war within the Fire Nation. Some of his generals and officials did not approve of his marriage to Katara of the Southern Water tribe, to bring two nations together, claiming a dilution to the purity of the bloodline. This resulted in the government falling into two different factions, those who supported the Fire Lord Zuko and the purists who wanted Ozai, with or without his bending, back on the throne.

The civil wars reached its peak, when a coup d'etat occurred and Zuko and Katara had barely escaped with their lives with the help of the White Lotus to Omashu where Aang was on his way to meet up with them. He had to leave Appa behind in Ba Sing Se with King Kuei and General Iroh because he was too noticeable on a flying bison. Appa had been injured from one of their encounters with the Fire Nation and the White Lotus and Aang had decided that it was safer for him to travel by foot and was to meet up with one of the squads that was in that area.

He had reached the edge of the forest to a clearing and stopped under one of the trees to unroll his map. The worn map was tattered and a few spots on it looked suspiciously like blood spots, which he chose to ignore. He looked around the area trying to find the squad. It was safer to wait by the edge where he could retreat into the forest if any signs of danger appeared. A clicking noise drew his attention from his map down to the ground.

"Aww, a little fire ferret," he cooed, rolling up his map. "What are you doing here buddy?" he asked squatting down to offer it his hand and some lychee nuts that he pulled from his pocket. The fire ferret sniffed curiously at the offering and took it.

A sudden tremor from the earth made him airbend from the area, snatching the ferret where a rock protruded from its location. He somersaulted backwards, tucking the animal down his dark orange robes to keep it safe. A rock appeared behind him, where he would have landed causing him to kick back and into a crouch, narrowly avoiding the onslaught of rocks that would have peppered him. He tensed in his position and jumped towards the direction where the rocks came from, using his staff to blow away anymore rocks flying towards him. He avoided a pillar of earth that shot from the ground and weaved himself through the pillars that kept on appearing, forcing him out into the grassy clearing. He landed on his feet and raised his palms up, gathering moisture from the plants to make a thick mist, a trick he had learned from Katara. Using that opportunity, he brought up and earth tent as a shield to catch his breath.

The fire ferret wriggled out from his robes and jumped out onto the ground, "No fire ferret! It's dangerous!" he whispered, dropping his tent to grab at the animal. Cursing silently, he followed the ferret that stuck out like a sore thumb in the mist. He stopped when he saw a silhouette that was shorter than him and the ferret running towards the bending figure. Aang saw the ferret climb up the figure, clicking excitedly. Since the figure was not in any threatening pose, he brought down the mist to reveal a soldier dressed in the Earth colours which were under armour that covered their chest. They had the arm and leg bands worn by Earth benders and a navy blue ring with a white lotus flower on their sleeves, showing their allegiance.

"Someone's a little light on their feet," a young feminine voice commented. The animal chittered and started to groom her, drawing his attention to her cloudy green eyes that was unfocused that revealed her blindness, but yet seemed to take in everything at the same time. She brought a hand up, causing him to flinch into a fighting pose. "Relax Fancy Dancer, this is a truce" she chuckled, reaching up to stroke the animal's fur, "I just wanted to see how the great Avatar earthbended."

"The name is Aang," he said straightening up and offered her a hand.

"Whatever, Twinkle Toes," she ignored his hand and turned around and striding across the clearing to the other side of the forest. He trotted after her, pulling up his bag strap that was slightly askew from the confrontation.

They reached the entrance of the forest and she led him deeper into the forest where she brought him deep into a cave. "Guess who's back boys! There better be some meat ready!" she declared into the darkness.

A flame appeared in the dark, illuminating the entire cave that housed 3 other young men plus the firebender that lit the cave up. They all wore different dark coloured uniforms that represented the nations that they came from, with a common navy blue stripe that showed their allegiance. "Grand Master Toph, you brought the Avatar," the firebender greeted them. He transferred his flame to a pile of fire wood that warmed the whole place up.

She nodded at him and stomped on the ground, creating a reclining chair for herself by the fire, which she flopped on. "Lychee found him," she replied tugging at strings from a small pouch. The fire ferret chittered excitedly and climbed around her arm to get closer to its treat.

"More like she used it for bait…" Aang mumbled rubbing his tired muscles.

"My name is Sargeant Yao," the firebender introduced himself. He looked like the oldest one there. His face was scarred with a cut that ran across his whole face. "Healer Thon from the Water Tribes," he pointed to the man in blue, who was throwing herbs into a pot that held their meal, "… and Corporals Ying and Yang from Omashu," he introduced the men as he sat down on an improvised earth stool.

"Did the Grand Master manage to get you?" the Earth nation soldier asked him, leaning forward towards Aang who took a seat on the empty earth stool . "We could feel the vibrations from here."

"Is that how she usually greets people?" Aang asked, accepting a bowl from Thon with a bow from his head.

A small earth stool appeared next to him and the other earth soldier sat next to him. "Grand Master always likes to have all the fun without us," he said forlornly.

"It's only because you lily livers won't be able to keep up with me!" she retorted at them.

Aang had a double take, looking between the two men. Since he was closer to the fire he saw that both Earth soldiers looked identical to each other. "Erm…." He said stupidly, trying to figure out who was who from Yao pointing them out earlier. The soldier that just sighed grinned "I'm Ying, an Earthbender. My brother Yang is a non-bender," he reintroduced himself and offered a hand, which Aang took.

"Don't worry, even our dear mother couldn't tell us a part sometimes," Yang reassured him.

"They like switching their identities around," Yao warned Aang, "only time you know which rascal is which is when one of them has to bend," he informed the Avatar earning identical cheshire grins from the both of them.

"Whenever you dunderheads are done flirting, we need to get bunker down. We leave tonight at moonrise," Toph ordered as she got up from her reclining chair. She walked deeper into the cave and they felt the earth shift as she bended an Earth tent around herself.

The twins groaned, "She's turning us into catowls," Ying muttered. His earth stool got unbended from under him, causing him to fall onto the floor and his twin to laugh. Ying grimaced and brought his foot down, unbending his twin's stool in revenge, making Yang fall with a yelp.

"Hey! Mother said no bending on me!" Yang whined.

Yao sighed bringing his hand down his face, "Children, must we start again?" he asked wearily as the twins began to bicker.

Despite the twin's earlier complains which ended with Yao throwing two streams of flames from the their fire at them, the small group got up in the middle of the night and left the cave for Omashu. The moonlight lit their way as Yao navigated them through the forest. They walked in a single line with Aang and Toph, in the middle.

He was trying to figure out how she was able to get around easily before they left, when she caught him staring at her. "What?" she demanded.

"Oh…er, I was just wondering how you were able to erm… walk around, with you being," he mumbled the last word trying to gesture at her without seeming too rude.

"Spit it out Twinkles! I'm blind, I can't see what you're doing. Use your words" she said sharply earning sniggers from the twins.

"Well…. Being blind," he said a little timidly. He had faced many armies and powerful benders, but this young woman just intimidated him.

"My feet are my eyes. I sense the vibrations in the earth. Now let's get moving," she said briskly walking away from him again.

He trailed behind her in their silent single file, trying to figure her out. As he had noticed earlier yesterday, she was a good head shorter than he was and the other men. Although smaller and younger than the rest of them, she walked with an air of authority that demanded respect from others, which he observed by the way the older men were following her orders. Her hair was braided and coiled into a bun that held back by a green band. Her cloudy green eyes were constantly covered by bangs that obstructed her unneeded sight.

He was surprised by how young she actually was. When Bumi had described the person he was to meet, all he was told that she was an Earthbender that helped to turn the tide on many battles and was considered a veteran. He had expected an older woman, but who was he to judge? He had captured Ozai at the age of twelve, only to have traitors break him and Azula out from their prisons. Azula, thought to be insane was still powerful, but followed her father's orders dutifully. So although Ozai could not firebend anymore, Azula was always on his right side, ready to dole out punishment on her father's behalf. This snapped him back to the present. He needed to get to Omashu to meet up with Zuko, Katara and Sokka to plan a course of attack.

They had been walking for what seemed like hours when Toph called for a halt softly. They crouched down into the bushes and the men gathered around her.

"There is a Fire Nation camp ahead of us," she whispered. Finding a stick, she drew the layout into the ground, showing at least 60 men on the campgrounds.

"They must be heading for Omashu also," Yao whispered with the group agreeing with him. The small group came up with a plan to sneak up to incapacitate the camp without any immediate confrontation. The group split into twos with the Ying and Yao together, Yang and Thon followed by Aang and their leader. They crept up silently around the sentries, who looked like they were dozing off from the lull of the moonlight.

The men worked quickly and efficiently, working like a well-oiled machine. Ying located their food tents and buried the supply underground, covering it up so that when anyone went to get any food, the tent would be empty. While Ying was doing that, Yao cut the ropes of their transport animals and shooed them into the woods. Thon and Ying worked together to drain their water supply by driving it underground. All was done as quietly as possible without alerting the enemy. Once the four were done, they met up with Aang and Toph further down the path they were taking. Together, the two of them shifted the earth to raise a large stone wall around the camp. This woke the army up and the squad could hear yelling and shouting from the soldiers.

Aang stood up from his stance admiring their work. He felt the earth shift some more underneath them as she continued to enclose the walls to form a dome over the Fire army.

"What are you doing?" he asked turning to her. The dome closed off the sounds of shouts and yelling completely, leaving the forest silent again. "They won't be able to breathe in there!"

"Aang, if you haven't noticed, we're at war here!" she said poking a finger at his chest. "We can't afford to have sympathy for the people who want to annihilate the other nations!"

He bristled but deflated, hating the actions that war had on people.

"We need to push on. That should occupy those Matchheads for a while," she said with smirk. "We can rest when we get to the Cave of Two Lovers. We'll be safer in those tunnels now that we have alerted some of the match heads," she announced, making the men groan inwardly.

Once they had arrived at the rubble that the Fire nation had made years ago to block Aang and his friends in the cave, they stopped to take a short break. Toph took the lead and began to bend the rocks away to make a small entrance for them. The team continued onwards with Yang closing up their exit so that no other soldiers could follow them behind. Yao held a flame so that everyone could see and not trip over each other from the rubble and loose earth. By the time they had finally hit the first cavern, there was a collective sigh of relief.

Yang tiredly bended an earth tent for the men and crawled in wearily with his things. His twin followed by other men and Aang followed suit. Toph had already bended her own tent and could be heard snoring slightly from her side. Everyone fell asleep as soon as their head touched their bed rolls.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************************\

Aang felt a furry body curling up around his neck, "Not now Momo…" he mumbled getting a sleepy chitter in reply. He opened his eyes when he realized that Momo wouldn't make those noises. All he received was blackness and he had to blink his few times to confirm that it was just dark and not that he was still sleeping. Bending a small flame on his palm, he saw that the other men were still sleeping in their rolls in their tents. Lulled by the darkness a few of them grumbled when they felt the light. Lowering the flame to make it bright enough but still dim, Aang crawled out of the tent with Lychee burrowing into his robes with a small grumble. He could hear the animal settle down and started its own version of snoring. Shaking his head gently, he turned to survey the cavern when he had to hold back a gasp.

He saw Toph standing by a large badgermole, touching it's nose. The humongous animal turned its head towards Aang, who nodded his head in greeting. The badgermole inclined its head and went back to Toph, who as Aang walked closer to, could hear her humming softly. He had remembered Sokka telling him how the badgermoles liked music and would only calm down when it was played in human presence.

"The badgermoles were the first Earthbender," she spoke softly, stroking the giant.

Aang nodded as he stood next to her, but not touching the animal. "My friends and I met them when I had to go to Bumi to learn how to master Earthbending. We came through this Cave."

"Crazy Hat told me that you all helped to liberate Omashu that day," she replied. "How did you guys manage to get out of the Caves then?"

Aang blushed, rubbing the back of his head bashfully. "I…er…. kissed Katara."

"Fire Lady Katara?" she asked her grin grew bigger. "You kissed Sugar Queen?"

"You know Katara and Zuko?" Aang asked looking at her now instead of the badgermole. "They never mentioned you at all," he said.

"Of course they wouldn't, I'm top secret," she said flashing him a grin.

He raised an eyebrow, but then realized that she couldn't see it so he came out with "Huh?"

"If I told you the secret then I wouldn't be a top secret anymore, Twinkles," she chuckled and patted his shoulder. She turned towards the direction of the tent brought the walls down by swiping her hands downwards. "Start a fire will, ya?" she told him. "Rise and shine my little chikadees! Mum and pops here has to get to Omashu, and we got a ride!"

************************************************************************************************************************************************************\

Hope you like it! I will continue writing anyways lol but thanks for reading the first chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own anything except for my interpretations.

Chapter 2

The group got a ride with the badger moles who left them at a wall of earth. Thanking them with a bow, the fighters began to dress themselves in their armour. "There's a Fire Nation army at the other side of the wall," Ying explains.

Yao fished around his pack before drawing out a padded vest and threw it at Aang, "Wear this at least, it might get messy. This will give you some sort of protection."

"Yao, take the Avatar to Omashu. Ying can bring you guys to the city," Toph said as she donned on her own battle gear, which consisted of metal guards that covered her arms and legs. The older man nodded.

"What about you Toph?" Aang asked as the men got ready to leave. He watched her attach the strap of her wide brimmed helmet on. It's colour resembled her clothes under her black armour, which was the dark forest green of the earthbending army elite. The helmet covers most of her face, hiding her eyes that hid under her bangs.

"Grand Master Toph is going to be the distraction," Thon said as he was pulling on his arm guards.

"What, by herself?" he looks at the men who looked like they were used this.

She smiled at him sweetly, "You can come join me only if you can keep up, Twinkle Toes. With your fancy dancing feet, I'm sure it wouldn't be any problem."

Aang bristles slightly at her insult. "Quit calling me Twinkle Toes," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry? What was that? You can't keep up?" she leans closer towards his general direction. "I thought so," she said with a mocking smirk, "I'll see you behind the gates, boys" she waved merrily before stomping an opening to the wall, surprising the Firebenders in front of it. They began to shout when they bludgeoned by boulders, starting a trail of destruction in her wake. The men saw her create a large dust cloud for coverage and began to move. Ying shut their entrance.

"Come on, let's go," Ying instructed as he began bending the earth into a slab that jutted out over the edge of the mountain.

Aang hesitated. "I'll meet you guys there." Although he had just been insulted, he wanted to see how good she was since the men just trusted her to cover their backs. All he saw was shadows being thrown off their feet by rocks that detached themselves from the earth. She was a solitary shadowy figure admist of all that chaos in that dust cloud that she had created. Like her element, she was unwavering and stubborn, bending the soldiers off the cliff smoothly.

Yao nodded. "Good luck and don't die out there, we need you," he said slapping his back and then moving onto the slab. Ying began to move it quickly towards walls of Omashu.

He turned towards Toph's direction to follow her, but all he had to do was follow the yells and shouts of surprise amidst the dust cloud. He bended an incoming flame away from himself with a swipe from his staff, sending a large gale of wind towards the enemy and knocking them back down. With a kick in the air, he twisted in time to narrowly avoided flames that were heading towards him from his right. He eventually catches up to Toph who was pulling up the earth in front of her to punch rock discuses, and taking out several men at the same time. Flicking her wrists upwards quickly, she hardened the earth in a breath and sent them into the abdomen of the soldiers. Aang swiped his staff to her left, taking out the soldiers that were creeping up on her with a cut of air. Reaching her, they stood back to back as he blew away flames that came from the Firebrenders that had started to surround them.

"Nice of you to join the party Twinkles," Toph said as she sent a volley of rocks towards the soldiers following that wind attack. With a sweep and a pull of her arms, firebenders were tripped and knocked out by flying earthen debris that came up to meet their heads.

"You're crazy, Toph!" he yells as he punched away a soldier with a burst of fire.

"Says the person who just joined me!" she threw up pillars of earth that punched Firebenders in all directions. Bringing her hands down in a cutting motion, she brought up slabs of earth that cut through 5 men.

Once Aang had caught on with her earthbending moves, they start to work steadily together and began to move in synchronization, bringing bigger boulders and rock pillars to destroy the army formation. Occasionally Aang would use his airbending to push the soldiers back followed by Toph's rocks, which gained momentum with the wind. The soldiers began to retreat backwards into the dust cloud that had been created from all of the flying earth. Seeing this reaction, Aang relaxed slightly in relief at the short reprieve…until they start to feel a rumble from the earth that neither of them had created. Toph quickly snapsped up a tent that shields them from the onslaught of flames, but he tent could only protect them from the power and not the heat, which was building up to unbearable temperatures.

"Of course those bastards would bring a tank," she mutters as sweat started to drip down her face. Taking a few steps back from the covering, she felt for the tank that was a distance from them. She then brought her hands forward as though she was grabbing onto something. With a grunt, her hands began to shake from effort as she pulled them apart.

Aang could hear a creaking and a loud tearing sound and he poked his head around curiously. He gasped when he saw that she had created a tear in the tank, exposing the bewildered firebenders inside. Once that was done, they could feel more rumbles that vibrated the floor underneath them.

"The guys should have reached Omashu by now. Ready to leave the party?" she asked, blind to his slacked jaw. "You're going have to do some work now Twinkles," she smirked.

Without waiting for his response, she threw the tent slabs protecting them towards the broken tank. This created a thicker dust coverage that obscured everyone's view, including Aang's. She grabbed onto his hand to pull him over the edge of the mountain. A quick motion of her hand, she built an extension to the mountain that turns into a long earthen slide. Aang felt himself being pulled closer to her that he was now holding onto her waist with an arm.

"Hold on!" she warns as they slid towards a crest on a lower mountain. They flew in the air for a while and were diving, when the earth was pulled up to meet them. He landed with an 'oopmh' onto a slab that followed the curve valley that they were propelling down towards. The dip suddenly curved upwards, as steeply as its descendant slope.

"I'm trusting you Aang, fly us towards Omashu," Toph yells against the wind, as they rode the curve upwards towards the blue sky. She directs the slab to give them as much push as she could, then grab him around the waist as he unfurls his staff into glider. The force of the kinetic energy propels them back into the air, shooting them up into the sky.

He bended some air currents around them to direct them towards Omashu. She let out an excited whoop as they took off into the air, enjoying the wind against her face. He glanced down at her and saw the pure enjoyment reflecting her eyes. Shaking his head slightly, he directed his glider landed them down gently onto the balcony of the palace. When their feet touch the floor, they both crumpled with tiredness, splaying out on the floor next to each other. A bubbling feeling from his chest produces a chuckle, which turned out into tired laughter.

"I've never had so much fun since riding that Unagi at Kyoshi Island," he laughed. His heart was still pounding hard from all of that adrenaline.

"It's always fun kicking firebending asses," she agreed, unmoving from her position next to him.

"AANG! TOPH!" a familiar feminine voice made him turn his head towards that direction. "Are you both okay?"

He sat up tiredly, only to be engulfed in a hug by his once love, Fire Lady Katara. "Hey Katara," he greets her with back with a hug. The older woman was dressed blue Water Tribe colours in the same style that she used to wear when they used to travel together. Her hair was loose, except for a tiny top knot where her crown should have been placed. Toph raised a hand in greeting towards the older woman as she began to fuss between the both of them, checking for any injuries.

"You're both so dirty! Are you hurt anywhere?" Katara asks worriedly.

"Kinda hard to stay clean in an earthbending battle Sugar Queen," Toph replied, motionlessly from the floor.

Katara held Aang an arms-length from her." I'm fine Katara, just tired," he tried reassuring her. She checked his head, which was covered with hair to hide his identity. He had grown more since the last time she saw him two years ago and the hair made him look much younger. His face had lost its roundness to a sharper chin and jawline. His eyes, although older, still had a spark of mischief in them. He was always so busy travelling around the Earth Kingdom to help the Fire Colonies and Earth citizens in what was supposed to be a peaceful era.

"I'm so sorry for not being able to help you guys out during…that night," he apologized, turning his head away with shame from Katara.

"We should have seen it coming," she replies with a tight voice, "We knew that it wasn't going to be easy, especially after the wedding."

"But still…" he said.

"We just have to move on forward and reclaim what we lost," Katara said pushing away his apology. "It's good to see you again though."

A flash of red ran past them and jumps lightly onto Toph who still lay on the ground. Lychee chittered worriedly, burrowing his head into Toph's neck, inspecting his owner for any damage. He starts to groom his master to make sure that she was not harmed in any way. "I'm fine Lychee," Toph had grumbled but let her companion carry on his inspection, making both Katara and Aang chuckle. A baby-ish squeal came from a toddler that was chasing the animal, and made to grab Lychee, only to miss and fall onto Toph as well, knocking the wind from her. The toddler climbed onto Toph's chest, ignoring her discomfort, putting all of his focus on the red animal.

"Sugar Queen, your little monster is going to finish what the other firebenders couldn't," Toph complained as the 1 ½ year old baby boy clambered onto Toph's chest. Lychee avoided the baby almost lazily.

"If Shou could do what 20 other Firebenders, it would be a miracle," Firelord Zuko said dryly as he gathered his son into his arms. The older man was dressed casually in dark reds and blacks, his hair was loose from its usual top knot, giving him a shaggy look. Shou whined and was motioning to his father to be put down to get his target. His golden eyes looked indignantly at his father, "No Shou, Princes ask nicely," Zuko instructed his son. Lychee clicked in agreement from the top of Toph's chest.

"Hey Sparky, what's up?" Toph grinned tiredly from the floor. Zuko extended a hand, which she went to grab at first but missed, so he grabbed it and pulled her up with his free arm.

"The White Lotus Council is meeting up in Bumi's War Council room. They gathered as soon as your men returned," Zuko informed her as she stretched out her muscles.

"Yes, yes, we're coming," Toph grumbled as she stood up from her comfortable spot and started striding out towards the meeting room. "Come on Twinkles, we can't let those old men wait any longer. They better have food ready."

Aang lingers behind with the Fire family and they walk together.

"Shou, this is the Avatar Aang. Say hello," Zuko instructs his son who was still forlorn that he couldn't get the fire ferret. The baby looks at Aang with big curious eyes. "Here take him," Zuko says as he hands his child to the Avatar.

"It is my honour to finally greet you Prince Shou," Aang inclined his head in greeting to the young boy who continued to look at the young man curiously. Shou patted Aang's cheeks with his chubby little hands and started babbling in his baby talk and raspberries, earning a smile from the older man.

"Fire Lord Zuko, If I may," a woman emerged from the shadows, which Aang recognized as Mai. Shou noticed her and held his arms out to be carried by her, his 'talk' becoming more excited.

Aang handed Shou to Mai, who takes him easily into her arms. She was now part of the Royal Family's protective order, and was always watching out for their safety from the shadows. Katara murmured her gratitude as the other woman walked away with her happily squealing toddler who hugged her adoringly around her neck. "It's not princely to squeal, Your Highness," they could hear her tell the young prince gently from the distance only to reply to her back in his baby talk. The three of them watch them walk away, Katara clutching her hands together anxiously. Zuko saw this this and put a comforting arm around her waist.

"How come I've never heard about Toph?" he asked as they continued their walk to the room. "She said that she was some sort of Top Secret."

"She was recruited by a White Lotus member when they saw her at an Earth Rumble championship in Gaoling," Katara explained, "She was the reigning champion for the 4th consecutive time at 14. They sent her out on missions to help stop some rebellions that the Fire colonies started."

"Earth Rumble…?" Aang asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a sport where earthbenders throw rocks at each other," Katara started to explain before catching the look her husband sent her, "Fine, they _bend_ rocks at each other till one of them get thrown out of the ring. Sokka's a fan. Ask him about it."

"She was on contract with the Fire Nation army to help out with the earthbending rebels," Zuko said going back to the point of their conversation, as they turn around a corner to the meeting room. "She came to the palace 3 years ago to help Mai stop the assassination attempts on our all of our lives, especially when Katara was pregnant."

"She senses with her feet," Katara said motioning with her own feet. "No one would suspect a blind earthbending handmaiden keeping the helpless Fire Lady company. It just so happened when you were around, she was on missions. Bumi had said that she would've been your earthbending teacher if we hadn't saved Omashu that day."

They walked into the meeting room which was filled with the Generals from Omashu, Master Piando and Pakku, along with King Bumi. Toph was already sitting at the table, a eating food from a plate they had provided for her. Aang saw a plate next to her and pulled the chair next to her with Zuko and Katara sitting on his other side. The food reminded him of how famished he was and his stomach rumbled at the sight. Blushing slightly from embarrassment and hoping that no one caught it, he quickly sat down and started eating just as the council began.

"Grand Master Toph," King Bumi called her attention from her food, "report," he ordered.

She straightened in her seat, forgetting her food as she relayed the information that they had gathered.

"On our reconnaissance mission, my squad and I gathered that there are 2000 Fire Nation purists headed this way," she reported. "On our way here after picking up the Avatar, we managed to incapacitate a group and came into contact with another at the exit of the Cave of Two Lovers. I estimate that there were at least 50 men at the exit. Sergeant Yao can tell you about the air ships," she said passing on the report to Yao who stepped up from a bench.

"My informants have told me that they will be sending 10 Air ships that should arrive within two days with the rest of the army. The Purist Fire Lord and Princess Azula have dispatched 3000 men that would be going to Ba Sing Se along with 20 air ships," he reported. Receiving a nod from Toph, he returns to the bench that he was sitting on.

"The Fire Nation is starting to converge onto Omashu, since they know the Fire Royals are residing here. We estimate that we have 2 days before they can figure out how to attack from across the canyon," General Sung said nodding to Zuko and Katara who nodded back again. "We will have to smuggle them to Ba Sing Se, which would be much safer for them."

"We will have to do it in during the night, it would be safest and faster by air ship," General Howe said. Murmurs of agreement went around the table. "They will be escorted by some of the Kyoshi warriors who are on their way here with Master Sokka. The faster they leave, the safer it would be."

"When will the warriors be arriving?" Piando asked.

"They should be arriving by the evening," Sung replied. "A squad of our men will be ferrying them in through one of our emergency tunnels," he said getting approval from the others.

There was silence for a while before Zuko spoke, "I would like to once again thank you all for your support of helping me get my throne back," he said gratefully. "Fire Lady Katara and I were discussing this issue earlier, and we would like to help out in any way that we can here since it is closer to the Fire Nation. But if I may have a request granted," he paused, "I would like to have my son and heir Prince Shou taken to Ba Sing Se where he would be safer with my mother Lady Ursa and Uncle Iroh behind the Walls."

"That is good idea Fire Lord Zuko," Bumi agreed, "if anything were to happen here, Prince Shou would still be safer in Ba Sing Se."

Aang heard Katara release a sigh of relief. She had been holding her breath in anxiously, but her hands were clutched together. Underneath the table, Zuko reached for his wife's hand, gently tugging it out from her worried knot and holding it. Katara gave him a grateful look and her whole body relaxed slightly.

"Right now we are starting to move the citizens out to the catacombs underneath the city," Howe started saying. " We will call up the reserved forces out to the wall…"

Aang was beginning to tune out of the whole discussion on logistics of moving the citizens to a safer place, when he felt a hand touch him on the shoulder. He turns to see that it was Zuko who had alerted him. The Fire Lord jerked his head slightly towards the door where Aang could see Katara and Toph waiting at the door.

"We are no longer needed here," Zuko whispered to him and they quietly slipped out of the meeting room.

They all walked down the hallway quietly. Aang and Toph walked slowly behind the royal couple. Zuko was whispering something into Katara's ear and holding her tightly around the waist to bring her closer to him. She was trying to walk proudly, but Aang could see the tremor in her shoulders. "I'm worried about Shou being so far away," Aang could hear her whisper back to her husband.

"Hey Sparky, I'll show Twinkles his room," Toph informed the older man who turned to acknowledge her. "This way," she directed as she took him down a separate hallway. She led him to a room and pointed to the door across his door. "I'll be right across. Grab some sleep, we'll be woken up when they need us," she said while stretching with a yawn. Before turning to her door, she punched him not too gently in the arm.

"What was that for?" he asked rubbing his arm as she walked to her door. It stung.

"Good try keeping up today," she smirked at him as she closed her door before he could reply.

"Great Spirits, that girl confuses me," he muttered.

* * *

He was awoken by a loud knocking on the door. He rolled out of bed sluggishly and his feet landed heavily. Tiredly he rubbed his face, "I'm coming."

"If I hadn't known that you were an Airbender, I would've thought that you were a normal person Twinkles," Toph said walking in as he was just about to get up.

She was not wearing her armour but a green short-sleeved long tunic that went to her knee that draped over a darker shade of pants. Her hair was no longer in a bun that she had in when he initially met her, but in a long braid that went down past her shoulder blades. Her bangs were swept more towards the sides of her face by a green headband, revealing more of her milky green eyes. She looked more like a woman, a very attractive one at that, with her clothes slightly hugging her body to display a silhouette of her curves. On her wrists, she had bracelets on with wiring that twisted around them in an intricate design. Where the armour had made her look bigger, without it, she was slightly smaller, but compact. His heart rate rose at the drastic difference, "I couldn't have surprised you that much, have I?" she asked him incredulously, "Your heart rate just shot up," she informed him.

"You can feel my heart rate?" he gulped, blushing. Panicking, he tried to control his breathing by using his meditation technique to lower his heart rate.

"I can tell if you're lying too," she informed him with a raised eyebrow and lifted her right bare foot, which had a leather band that matched the one on her left around her ankle, "I sense vibrations of everything in my range, including your heart rate. Come on, Sokka and Suki are waiting," she beckoned to him turning to walk out the door.

As she walked out of the room, he noticed another thing that the armour had hidden, which he wished had remained hidden. The sway of her hips as she walked, gave her more feminine and seductive charm to her mysterious personality. Taking a deep breath, he gathered his robe and his crumbling resolve, he got up from his comfortable bed to catch up with her.

When Toph left the room, she didn't wait to feel the light footsteps of the Airbender. She knew that he would follow and eventually catch up. Mapping out the whole building almost lazily, she thought back to their fight back against the Firebenders. She knew from the stories that her friends have told her, that he was able to earthbend proficiently, but she still wanted to see how well Bumi's student would have fared against her. She had battled against Bumi before and it had been declared as a stalemate by the White Lotus, Zuko and Katara, before they both brought the City of Omashu down. They had been battling in the canyons below. She stopped in her tracks considering the thought that he might be on par with them, making Aang narrowly avoid walking into her. Shaking her head at the possibility, she continued walking making it a point to battle him when this blasted civil war was resolved.

"Twinkles." She stopped briefly.

"Yes?" he asked curiously, caught off guard that he had to back track slightly.

"Once this stupid war is over, we're going to have an Earth Rumble," she stated looking at him over her shoulder.

"Pardon?" he asked nervously.

He didn't get an answer since they had already reached a pair of doors that she pushed open and left him there. Stepping into the room, he saw that it was filled with Kyoshi clad warriors in their full battle regalia and one blue-clad Water Tribe warrior.

"Aang! It's been a long time since I last saw you!" Sokka said happily engulfing him into a bear hug.

A voice behind them caused the guys to separate, "Cheating on me already sweetcakes? And we just landed" she asked. "At least let me join in too!"

"Suki!" Aang laughed pulling her in a group hug. The paint around her eyes and her face crinkled a little in laughter.

The three of them separated when they could hear giggling from the background from the other Kyoshi warriors. They had forgotten about them in their reunion.

"Warriors, head to the barracks. I will return with orders for you," Suki commanded them when she began to notice them again. The group filed out as the three of them caught up with their lives.

A distant drumbeat rang in the air, drawing them away from their reunion.

One of the Kyoshi warriors burst through the doors, "Ozai's army is here!"

A/N: Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: If the timeline doesn't match up, I apologize. I will try to update at least once a month, but since school is starting, you know how life gets. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for His Highness Prince Shou and Lychee

* * *

Chapter 3

Calamity.

Chaos.

Calmness

Toph strode purposefully towards the War Council feeling the nervous but hyper vibrations of different anxious footsteps. She moved calmly like the centre of the storm, with soldiers and guards getting into their positions around the palace and city like they were trained to. Chaos had been a big part in her life since she had accepted Bumi's invitation to join the White Lotus forces, and she never looked back. She stopped for a moment and was surprised to feel a wave of calmness flowing through her body. There wasn't any anxiety or fear…but excitement instead. With an internal shake of her head she chided herself "_You crazy, girl," _before continuing on towards her from all the nervous vibrations that she could feel from the movements of soldiers, she sensed two familiar pairs of confident footsteps followed by a pair of light-footed ones.

"Hey Toph," Sokka greeted her cordially, matching up to her pace.

She directed a nod of greeting towards the couple without breaking her stride, "Hey yourself Meathead, Commander Suki."

"Why does Suki always get a cooler nick name?" Sokka grumbled.

"Because I am more kick-ass than you," Suki laughed nudging her fiancé.

"The last time I checked," Toph smirked at him, "Your ass was still handed to you by Fan-girl."

"Hey now, all this flattery will get to my head one day," Suki grinned, pretending to act bashful by hiding behind her fan, which she snapped open.

Before Sokka could reply with a retort, they had reached the room. The generals that were in charge of the outer Walls, were not present, since they were overseeing the movements of Ozai's armies. Bumi was pointed to different points on the city maps, discussing strategic positioning to his commanders. There were three youths scribbling down his orders to be sent out with the messengers that were waiting by the door. Zuko stood next to Bumi helping him with the positioning of his men and the possible methods that the army may take. Sokka and Suki joined that group, waiting to receive orders for their own warriors.

Aang stood by the door and out of the way. His role was to help with peace negotiations but not to plan wars. He had learnt from his past that there were other people more suited for this position, and it was not his place and preferred it that way. His attention was caught by Katara and Shou in her arms when she strode towards him.

"Aang, I have a favour to ask of you," Katara spoke to the younger man.

"What is it Katara?" Aang looked worriedly at his good friend. She looked tired, like she had not slept at all the whole night. Her face looked drawn and her eyes sad.

"I need you to take Shou to Ba Sing Se to Uncle Iroh and Lady Ursa," she said.

"I think I would be needed more here," Aang replied.

"We have Sokka and Suki here with their warriors here," Katara explained. "Zuko and I discussed this and we know that you and Toph will be able to get there faster than anyone we know."

"WHAT?" the both of them heard a raised voice in the background and looked at that direction. "You need me here Bumi! We can flatten Ozai's armies out!" Toph said loudly.

They could hear Zuko release a sigh and placed a hand on her shoulder, stilling her. "Toph, you know the area the best and Shou is the heir to my throne. I need him to be safe, and that is with the Avatar. Azula will be coming after you."

"Please Toph," Katara walked towards her younger friend.

Aang could see Toph lower her head and slowly unclench her fists as her shoulder sag.

"Fine Sugar Queen. When do we leave?"

* * *

It had been 2 weeks since they had left Omashu behind. Travelling with a toddler definitely took longer because they needed to take more breaks and change diapers just as often. Putting two strangers together with a toddler was a learning curve for everyone, except for said toddler.

There were times when Toph would brush against Aang or lean over close enough that he could smell her sweet scent, and he would jump from the close proximity. She would turn to him with a raised eyebrow and just continued whatever she was doing. On the other side, Toph had to learn how to differentiate between Aang and Shou's footsteps and sense their presence. It was too light for her taste and it would confuse her, because occasionally it felt like they had just disappeared in thin air. However, they two had started syncing together, and worked as a team.

"Hey you little poop machine," Toph said tickling Shou's stomach, making him squeal. "Azula is going to be able to track us down just by smelling. You need a bath too," she recoiled after taking a whiff of the baby. Stripping the young prince, she bended a depression into the ground next to the river to bathe him in. After getting half of the water on herself, she dressed the prince efficiently.

"Toff, toff, toff," the baby babbled as she held him up so that he could stand on his feet. He caught sight of Lychee and began his chase, albeit unsteadily.

"Or just leave a saliva trail…." she mumbled as he left a souvenir on her before the chase. "There kiddo, go walk to Twinkles."

Shou toddled after the animal, who remain constantly at hand's distance away. Lychee would stay in one spot till the prince would get nearer and then jump away at the last minute.

Aang sat on a rock nearby and grinned hearing the baby babble on, walking proficiently over uneven terrain. They had agreed that whoever was to carry the prince, the other would do diaper duty, since it was such a hassle to take off the makeshift harness that they placed the baby in. It had taken a few trials and errors from the both of them to learn how to take care of a toddler. Diaper changing was the biggest challenge and it was Toph, who was trying to remember Katara's lessons from a while when she was somewhat paying attention that helped them to muddle along. Cursing through the first few diaper changes, it was a lesson where the blind was leading the blind for a while.

He looked out for any pursuers that may come their way by sensing the shifting in currents. They would always change Shou upwind, so the stink wouldn't carry. He was glad and surprised that the prince was easy to take care of. They really lucked out on this mission. He felt a tug on his pant legs as Shou grabbed onto it and tried climbing up onto him.

"Tink!" he screamed for attention.

Aang flinched at that nickname. "Your Highness, you shouldn't scream," Aang chided the young child gently while wiping the drool of his chin. Shou looked onto him innocently and started babbling quieter than before. "That's a good boy," the young prince grinned brightly at that. "You are definitely Katara's kid," he mumbled as he stroked the baby's soft head.

Toph approached the airbender and handed him the soiled diaper. "I buried the mess, here you go," she grinned, "it sure is convenient that you're the Avatar."

Aang sighed. Although Toph would change the diaper, he still had to clean it. Standing up, he bended the water off the river to clean the cloth followed by a stream of heat and air, which dried the cloth easily. He was Shou's official laundry lady too. The baby clapped watching the display of bending, taking the slight sting away of Aang's new duty.

"Wanna see something cool, buddy?" Aang asked his now captive audience. He passed the cloth to Toph to store and bended a few rocks the size of marbles off the ground. With a big grin, he suspended the rocks in between both his palms and spun them. Shou stared at it, captivated with the older man's skill. With a trill and gurgle, he was soon clapping his hands and tried reaching for the rocks.

"… and the great Avatar shows off how he defeated Ozai," Toph shook her head at the two boys and started setting up site so that they could camp for the night.

Travelling with the Avatar was definitely….interesting. She had heard about the stories about his travels and adventures from the royal Fire couple and Sokka, and he still remained the same fun-loving monk in their stories. She would often hear the Prince's laughter as the Avatar really took this opportunity to bond with the child. She had never expected him to be so… child-like and gentle. Ever since she had set out with the White Lotus, she had been surrounded by adults or very much older teens, whom respected her for her strength and were intimidated by it. It wasn't that she didn't deserve it, because she had sent a few men flying when they were disrespectful, but she wasn't used to the way he treated her with such carefree ways, as if he had knew her for a long-time.

It took a while for her to distinguish between his footsteps and Shou's. Oh she could easily tell them apart if there were only one pair of light footsteps, but when both of them were on the ground initially, they felt almost identical. Earlier in the journey while they were both resting, she had felt light footsteps behind her and bent to grab a hold of the baby. Instead her hands came into contact with the Avatar's, causing him to narrowly avoid the baby behind him and pulling her onto him. She had realized her mistake a fraction to late and tried pulling towards her to avoid the baby. He in turn fell onto her, making her face land in places that was much too intimate between strangers. Shoving him aside quickly to hide her embarrassment, she picked up the baby and walked as fast as she could away from him. After that, she never made the same mistake again.

She felt him coming up behind her and stilled. He settled across from her and began to take out the cookingware to start dinner. If the cooking were left to her, they would've all been poisoned by now. She had almost accelerated the process of reincarnation of the next Avatar the last time she cooked a meal. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the carefree steps of the prince who had begun his chase the fire ferret again. Her furry friend would scamper around the prince and pause for him to catch up, then scurry away. It was a never-ending game that they both seem to love. She smirked at them and was careful to earthbend the prince from straying too far through elevating and depressing the floor. She sighed contently, and settled against a rock and made herself comfortable.

Aang looked across the bubbling pot to the pretty woman in front of him and studied her features, which he apparently had been doing quite often and was slightly glad that she was blind. She had been quiet at first when they left, but began to slowly open to him. "If I don't talk to another adult, I will go crazy from baby talk," he remembered her saying. She was definitely rough and could be quite abrasive, but when he saw her handle Shou, as rough as it seemed superficially, he witnessed the gentleness that she reserved for the prince and Lychee. Toph shifted from her position, drawing him out from his thoughts.

"Hey Twinkle Toes, direct the prince over here with your eyes closed," Toph instructed him.

Aang stood up and sensed for the prince with his eyes closed. The toddler was light footed, but easy to identify because of his quick and uneven steps. Using his foot, Aang gently traced his foot on the ground. The earth close to Shou's feet rose silightly enough to direct Lychee and the toddler towards their direction. Shou meandered slowly towards his guardians. When he noticed the direction he was being guided to, he smiled and ran towards them. With an uncontrolled burst of speed he ran into Toph and climbed onto her lap. She smiled down onto him as he cuddled into her. Lychee, not wanting to be left out, tried to fit onto whatever space was available.

Toph ran a hand along the prince's face, "I guess that bath didn't do much good," she patted his cheek gently, " A good coating of earth never hurt anyone," she grinned down.

Aang stared at the pair. It was picturesque, which he made sure to etch into his brain.

For some unknown reason, Aang couldn't fall asleep that night. Well actually, he did. It involved a toddler, a fire ferret and a very cold earthbender… all under an earth tent.

When they first started their journey, he had slept under the stars alone…until it started raining and getting cooler. Toph had emerged from her tent with all of the occupants and stomped over to his newly erected shelter. He woke up from feeling his tent open and expanded.

"Heat up Avatar," she instructed and everyone just settled around him and fell asleep immediately, without his say so.

Since that night they've been sharing a tent as the temperatures dropped. But tonight was a particularly cold night. This resulted in him being sandwiched between a toddler and fire ferret in front, and a very curvy earthbender pressing up behind him. Every time she shifted, it seemed like she was pressing in closer to his back. Her arm was thrown over him while her legs entwined within his. This extremely intimate position was keeping him up. Meditation was not helping out at all.

Aang turned to practicing his sightless earthbending practice, hoping that this would serve a good enough distraction. He sent out feelers as far as he could. There were nocturnal critters around… and humans. He felt Toph stiffen behind as her breathing indicated that she was now awake. He saw her blush furiously at the closeness of their bodies and pushed herself away quickly. Without uttering a word to him, she ran out of the tent.

He sighed. He actually missed the warmth of her body behind him, but the human presence was worrying. Scooping up the prince and placing him in the harness, Aang left the tent. He stood quietly, sending out his feelers again to find the location of his partner. Sensing her, he walked towards that direction.

"How many of you are there?" he heard her speak quietly to an encased scout. There were three other cocooned shapes sticking out from the earth.

"I'm not telling you!" the scout hissed at her. He was thoroughly encased except for a small hole for him to speak through. Toph stomped the ground and the other three cocoons sank knee-deep into the ground. There were muffled sounds of bone crunching and screams from his companions.

"Speak, or your friends will suffocate soon," Toph threatened.

Aang walked grabbed her arm, "What are you doing? You're going to kill them!" he hissed.

Closing the small gap so that the scout wouldn't be able to hear their conversation, she pulled her arm from his grip.

"I would love to ask them over a cup of tea, but they weren't co-operating," she said sweetly to him with a smile. Her face then twisted angrily, jabbing her finger into his chest, "We're at war here, Avatar, not a peace negotiation. I'm doing what I need to do, to save the prince. Let me do my job," she said coldly.

"I will not stand here to see you torture people to death," he replied.

"Then go stand by the trees and wait for me," she ordered. "Ba Sing Se is in that direction," she pointed towards it.

Angrily, he stalked towards the direction leaving her behind.

Turning towards her captives, she smiled wickedly. "Now you've made me angry, tell me what you know and I just might be merciful," she said sweetly again. The encased scout trembled and gulped nervously.

Aang jogged lightly away from Toph, heading towards Ba Sing Se.

"She didn't need to torture them that way," he muttered to the sleeping head of the Prince. "She could've pretended, but she didn't have to cause pain." He seethed as he jogged, praising the higher deities that his charge had the gift of sleeping anywhere and however without waking up. He felt sad that she had to do these things, and angry that he was actually judging her in a way. He didn't know who she was or what she had really experienced before. Yes, he heard the stories of the Blind Bandit, and admired her for her work, but now it was tainted. A little bit of him felt the injustice of what she had to do and wished that he had stopped her before. But the prince was important, and he shouldn't be distracted.

After a while, he felt waves under his feet. Toph was catching up to him. He didn't want to ask what happened.

"For an Airbender, you move pretty slowly," she said slowing down to a light jog. He glanced at her at the corner of his eye, but remembering that she was blind, she wouldn't be able to see it. He was still irritated with her, so he ignored it.

"How far till Ba Sing Se?" Aang said tightly.

"We should reach the Serpant's Pass in 6 hours. We should be safer there," Toph mumbled. "Once we get there, Ba Sing Se should be within 2 days."

"I could call for Appa once we cross the Serpant's Pass. That would make it easier."

"That's your Sky Bison?" Toph confirmed.

"Yeah. The messenger hawk should have reached Ba Sing Se by now. I told Lord Iroh to get Appa ready."

Toph nodded.

They continued on with their quick pace.

"Toph…" he began.

"They're still alive Twinkle Toes. I left them a breathing hole. It's not my problem if their own people ran over them," she muttered.

"Thank you," he breathed.

"I do what I need to do to get what I want, even if it is…" she trailed. "You of all people should know what war is like you've just been spared of it because people like me do the dirty work."

He didn't reply. A flash of light from behind him cast a shadow over the two of them. "What the…."

"What's happening?" Toph asked. She felt the Avatar's heart rate speed up.

"I don't think they ran over their Fire buddies," he replied. They both began to run again, using the earth again. This would make their journey faster. Every time they pushed off the ground, they could feel the movements of more humans and machines coming after them.

It took them a while to reach the Serpents Pass, which was a feat on itself. They stopped to catch their breath, dawn was coming, and that was bad news. The firebenders got stronger with the rising of the sun.

Without looking back, they picked up the pace. When they were much closer to the Pass, Aang grabbed Toph's hand before they reached the open.

"What in Shu's name?"

"Shhh….. there's a Fire ship docking now," he said in hushed tones. He looked over at the other girl, she was panting as equally hard as he was.

"I'll go closer and check it out. Shou is much calmer with you," Toph said gathering her breath.

"Alright, but hurry, the army is closing quickly behind," Aang said. "Hey Toph," he placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling her stiffen a little.

"Twinkles, we're in a hurry here," Toph said gesturing towards the army behind them.

"Just be careful," he sighed letting her go.

"Right back at you," she grinned before loping off.

Toph tried to fight down a new rise of heat growing on her face. "What is wrong with me?" she muttered. She could still feel the gentle pressure that was left lingering on her should. Giving her head a shake, she moved as close as she could under the shade of the trees. The soldiers were beginning to file out from the ship, so that she could feel their movements. She heard a branch snap to her right and whirled around to counter attack, only to feel cold steel on her neck.

:D Constructive criticism is always welcomed.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Oh hi! I guess I lied about updating once a month :P . I realized that I just couldn't stop writing once the cliffhanger happened lol. I don't really have a plan for where this story is going. I know how it's going to end, and some major events, but I don't know what happens in the middle. It just happens. Thanks for reading! I do appreciate it. It makes me happy when I see the number of views go up.

* * *

Chapter 4

Her breath hitched.

"_How in Shu's name…stupid bloody trees_" Toph grumbled when she felt the fatal cold steel next to her jugular.

"State your name and your business," a raspy female voice demanded.

"What's it to you?" Toph asked defiantly.

"Smellerbee, it's Master Toph!" her partner said. Toph felt the familiar footsteps land onto the ground.

She felt the blade removed from her neck. "Thanks guys," she said sacarstically up in the general direction of the sword.

The short haired girl flipped off the tree that she was perched on. "If you had replied to me earlier, I wouldn't have threatened you. It's a good thing The Duke recognized you," The older woman said.

"Whatever," Toph shrugged. "Hey, is Fire Pops here?"

"He's on the ship," The Duke informed her as they walked out into the open. "Whoa the Avatar is here too!" he yelled as he saw a dark green-clad figure running towards them. He could see the blue lines that identified the older boy.

"Hey Smellerbee, The Duke, is Lord Iroh here?" he huffed. Every bump he took, Shou would clap with glee to it. Lychee was curled around the boy.

"Yeah, he's on the ship," Smellerbee indicated with her head. "We figured that you guys would be coming this way," she said.

"Awesome, we have Ozai's army coming up behind us," Aang informed her with a grinned.

"Just can't leave you guys alone without supervision huh," The Duke joked earning a punch on the arm from Toph.

Aang spotted the Grand Master of the White Lotus and created an airscooter, grabbing a protesting Toph along the way. He lifted her easily, which surprised him. Storing that in mind, he let the air from the scooter go once he reached the gangplank.

"Avatar, Grand Master Toph! Is that my nephew?" Iroh greeted them jovially from the gangplank when they arrived. He was dressed in his White Lotus robes with a dark red undercoat.

Shou clung onto the Aang, not recognizing the wizened older man. Iroh's face fell slightly.

"Aww look at that, he doesn't want to let go! Just like Zuko," he said jovialy leaning closer to his grandnephew. "That boy wouldn't let go of his mother's skirts. I miss those days," he sighed. "Katara and Zuko need to make more children, this one is too adorable."

With a sigh, Toph plucked the toddler out from Aang's arms. The baby squirmed in her hold, protesting slightly. Aang looked just as forlorn as the baby. "Look here you, Fire Pops will take good care of you, we need to go kick some asses," she said looking at him square in the eyes. The toddler babbled back something in baby talk "No arguing," she ordered him sternly.

"Toph… I don't think he understands yet," Aang chuckled.

"You coddle him too much Twinkles," she reprimanded him, shifting Shou to her hip. "He's not going to be a man if he doesn't toughen up."

Iroh raised an eyebrow to the ease of how she was handling the baby. He studied the young couple in front of him with interest, they seemed comfortable enough, and he knew that Toph was not an easy person to get along with.

"Ah!" Iroh perked up, remembering something "Prince Shou, I have a treat for you," he brought out a piece of candy, which the toddler started to eye shamelessly. Lychee jumped from the ground and climbed up the man's robes, vying for the treat himself. Shou saw this and started holding his arms out to Iroh, which the older man took him in gladly. He nuzzled the young boy, causing him to giggle from the older man's hair tickling him.

"Anyways, we would love to stay and chat, but your brother's army was right behind us," Toph pointed out. "I can distract them while you guys head towards Ba Sing Se."

"I can't leave a young lady to defend us," Iroh began to say.

"Old man, your age is catching up to you. You're not as nimble as you used to be and your soldiers will slow down the great escape after," she grinned punching him gently, "You're talking to the Grand Earthbending Master here."

"Lord Iroh, I will be here with Toph," Aang said placating the man," You have to take Shou with you, that was our mission. We'll meet you behind the city walls."

"We've done this before, Twinkles is somewhat dependable," she shoved the airbender causing him to fall off balance and an indignant protest.

Iroh looked at the black smoke chasing them. "You kids have fun then," he said patting the Avatar's shoulder fondly. "This old man will head back for some jasmine tea. Would you like to try some tea Prince Shou?"

The two benders saw the ship cross the waters safely. "Ready to rumble Fancy Feet?" Aang saw a Toph relax into a stance.

"Oh so it's Fancy Feet now?"

"I felt you twirling around like a fairy occasionally."

"It's called dancing!"

"Whatever Fancy Feet," she stuck her tongue out just as figure began to emerge from the shadows.

"Well if it isn't the Avatar," a saccharine voice drawled. Hearing her voice sent the hairs standing on Aang's neck. Azula sat triumphantly on the saddle of her komodo dragon looking down at the couple. "And he has a girlfriend?" she asked looking at the smaller green clad woman.

Toph smirked at her. With a quick snap of her hand that Aang barely caught, she sent a pillar of earth punching the belly of the komodo dragon that Azula sat on, causing it to fall over. The animal roared in surprise, throwing it's owner, Azula who agilely flipped off her animal landing in a crouch. Her face now twisted into an ugly mask. "You little bitch!"

Toph giggled, making everyone stare at her. "Takes one to know one you psycho hag," she yelled back at her. Aang shook his head at his partner, thinking that she was just as insane as the ex-princess.

A spark in the air formed at the ends of Azula's fingers, signalling the rest of her army to attack, as they avoided the path of the lightning bolt. Steeling herself against the disturbance of static in the air, Toph countered with a huge hardened earthen wall. The lightning blasted the earth into dust, which Aang took advantage of and blew it into the faces of the firebenders. The soldiers started coughing from the dust that choked them. Toph threw up multiple rocks which she began to kick towards the soldiers, avoiding the debris as it was blasted away by heat. The firebenders stood together to send a wall of fire towards her, which she countered with slabs of earth taking them down in a wave. She narrowly avoided the blast of fire which was cut into two and felt the tips of her bangs burn. Sliding her foot forward, she shifted the earth and hardened them into tiles. With a stomp, it was released from the earth and threw as tiny projectiles towards the enemy.

Aang focused on avoiding getting hit by the lightning bolts that were being directed towards him continuously. Seeing an opportunity, he redirected the pathway and reflected it back to the deranged princess who laughed maniacally as she attacked him. He used a long whip of water to take Azula's legs from under her, causing her to fall onto her back. With a scream, she sent her lightning through the water, which he quickly threw it towards a line of attacking soldiers. They convulsed from the electrocution and were knocked unconscious. Aang sent a blast of air that cut through the fire being sent his way, returning the flames back to the senders. A throwing knife caught him off guard and it sliced him in the arm. Three soldiers came up close to him with their swords, which he had to start defending himself with his staff. Occasionally, one of them would throw in a blast of flames and he had to block it with a gust of wind. He gathered his breath and blew out an icy cloud and froze the nearest soldiers to the ground. Gritting his teeth, he looked over at Toph and saw that she was in no better shape than him.

He saw her move fluidly with deadly force unlike other earthbenders he had seen before. She did use many gross movements like other earthbenders, but her fine and precise movements caused bigger and better results. Focusing back to his fight he pushed back another attack by Azula who was right in the middle of the fray of attacking the both of them. He had just narrowly avoided one of her lightning attacks, but not unscathed. His attention was drawn back to the girl when he saw one of those blasted knife slice her side while she threw up an earthen wall to protect herself. Pushing the firebenders away with a wall of earth, he ran to her and deflected any attacks that came their way. With a roar, she stomped onto the ground causing the earth to crack, swallowing a good size of the army knee-deep. Seeing her injured, Aang gritted his teeth from anger and brought a large wave of water from the river towards the fire benders. This made the ground muddy and hard to move in and sucked the other soldiers down, bogging their movement.

"Come on Toph," he said when they stood back to back "We have to retreat."

"Righto there," she agreed labourously and followed him up the steep hill clutching onto her side. Aang sent a blast of cutting wind down towards their pursuers and threw up a wall hastily, blocking them temporarily

They struggled to get up the hill, with Toph struggling to stay conscious and Aang deflecting the fire away from them. Once they reach the top, Toph formed a smooth slab and stepped onto, "Like old times Twinkle Toes," she grinned as they tore down the hill, letting momentum carry them. Aang bended water under the slab and froze it, making it slippery. He pushed the slab with a gale of wind every time they reached a trough. He reached into his shirt and brought out a bison shaped whistle and blew onto it. He heard a roar in the near distance and smiled.

"Appa is almost here Toph," he told her.

She merely nodded trying to focus on staying conscious. He grabbed onto her worriedly seeing her fight unconsciousness. He saw that they were heading downwards into steep hill that had a hundred yards of water in between its connecting path. He concentrated on the water and bended it into an ice slide that would send their vehicle up into the air. Once they shot up the curve, Aang snapped his glider open and used the air currents to carry them onto Appa. They landed onto Appa's saddle with a thud.

Aang panted tiredly. Looking at his partner, she laid there unmoving. "Toph?" He shook her shoulder. Feeling something sticky on his palm, it was covered in blood that was not his. He rolled her flat onto the saddle and saw that the blood had spread onto her clothing from where she had been injured. "TOPH! Wake up!" he shook her with no response.

His breath caught in his throat as the panic began to buildup. "Appa we have to hurry to Ba Sing Se!" he ordered the Sky Bison getting a grunt of agreement. His companion was distressed and he wanted to make him feel better. Aang's mind raced, trying to remember what Katara had taught him. He bended moisture in the sky to clean the wound and saw that it was a pretty deep gash. It was spewing out blood, which was too much according to his books. "Pressure!" he mumbled to himself as he saw the source of the blood. He searched around his saddle and could not find anything. Taking off his shirt, he tore it into strips as well as he could for bandages and dressings. The blood was still seeping out from her dressings.

"Spirits above," he cursed wishing that Katara was now with them to heal her. "Appa hurry!" he yelled at his bison.

The Sky Bison yowled in response and used his tail to propel them ahead. He dropped suddenly, causing them to rise off the saddle a little. Aang threw his upper body over hers to prevent her from falling off the saddle. He partially laid across her so he could keep her warm from the cold air. Feeling the cold air rush over him, his body felt heavier and heavier. The fatigue that hounded him was soon taking over his consciousness. The last thing he remembered was feeling Appa land in Ba Sing Se.

* * *

She woke up feeling softness underneath her tired body. She could hear a low chatter of a large group of people nearby and the smell of fragrant flowers that permanently stained the air. Her usual "visual" world was missing and she felt like she was suspended in the air by the bed that held her up. She felt a regular rhythm of breath inhaling and exhaling on her right side. A wave of warmth swept over her as it emanated from the source that was breathing net to her. She lifted her heavy right arm to feel who it was, when she felt a sharp pain shoot through her torso making her wince with a grunt.

"Toph don't move," the body next to her said groggily as their position quickly shifted, grasping her hand gently. Her traitorous body stilled, ignoring the question why she was even obeying the Airbender.

She wanted to ask him where the hell she was but the only sound that came out was a croak. He chuckled and disappeared from her sight. She turned her head, trying to figure out where he was based on the noise he made, which was like trying to catch the sound of a bird's wings fluttering. She heard the clinking of glass to on her left and turned her head towards that direction.

"I'm going to help you sit up, but it might hurt a little," Aang said. He propped the pillows behind her and told her to prepare for movement.

She felt him lean over her to hold onto her other side, causing her to blush slightly from the closeness. He laughed nervously as they moved her up to a sitting position that was supported by the pillows. He grasped her hands together with one hand placed a cool cup of water in there, guiding it gently. Once the cool water passed her lips and when down her throat, she felt a little better than before.

"Where the hell are we?" she rasped. She was starting to feel irritable from the lack of sight. She hated succumbing to her disability, it made her feel claustrophobic.

"We're in one of the rooms above the Jasmine Dragon," Aang named the teashop owned by Iroh. She heard him shuffle away from her and the sound of clinking glass rang through the air again. Once again she felt the cup of water rest in her hands and she drank it all. "Iroh said that you would've preferred to be here instead of the palace. He got you transported down here once you looked much better."

"What happened?"

"You were cut deeply by one of those knives that were being thrown. You lost consciousness just as we got onto Appa. They stitched you up."

"More like a festering harpoon by the way it felt," she muttered. "How long was I out for?" Toph asked sinking into the pillows. Her body felt stiff and it ached. She wriggled her toes feeling it brush against the soft blanket. Her feet missed the hard sure earth under it.

"About a week. I only woke up three days ago," Aang said sitting down on the bed.

"A WEEK!" she yelled causing him to jump. She made to move out the bed when the sharp pain on her left side tore through her. "For the love of Oma and Shu! Curse those bloody firebenders!" she cursed loudly as her feet touched the ground. The room came into view as she felt the placement of the furniture and the bodies of other people in the near vicinity. Her body was all wobbly and weak, being bedridden for a week and she felt herself losing her balance and falling forward.

Aang caught her before she hit the floor and gathered her in his arms. Flushed against him, she only came up to the underside of his chin, which he could rest comfortably on the top of her soft head. She had slept closely to him on nights, except for that one night, but never right in his arms. Toph felt the heat rise up to her face and the increase of Aang's heart rate, which matched hers. She leaned weakly against him, his chest half covered by his robe, resting her weight on him, her body moulding into his. She hated to admit it, but he felt solid and comfortable.

"Oh, I'm sorry," a gentle voice gasped from the doorway. "I'll the things right here." The door quickly closed again just as it had opened.

The two teenagers jumped apart from the interruption, but Toph lost her balance and landed back in Aang's arms again.

With a nervous chuckle and beet red faces, he helped Toph back onto the bed.

"What are those things?" Toph asked breaking the silence. She leaned against the pillows

Mentally he cursed the person who brought the things. He passed the basket with held a change of clothes and dressings over to her. He watched her feel the material under her fingers and took the clothes out from the bundle. Resting the clothes and basket within arms-reach, she started to unbutton her shirt.

"Wait stop! What are you doing?" Aang yelled.

She raised an eyebrow, "I'm taking off my shirt," she said slowly to him as she undid all the buttons. He saw her breast bindings and blushed furiously, turning his eyes away. "Pull on my sleeves, I can't do it by myself."

He snuck a sideways glance and pulled on her sleeves as he took her top off as she grimaced. Her breast bindings covered everything till just right above the dressings.

"Hey monk," she said putting up a brave voice," I'm going to need help changing the bandage too."

Steeling himself and telling himself to act professionally, he looked at her fully. Coaching his own breathing, he saw that her face was tinged a lovely pink and it was no easier on herself to ask for help. He thanked the Spirits above that she could not feel how fast his heart was beating, but he didn't doubt that she could hear it. Finding the top of the bandage, he began to unroll the gauze that held her dressings. He held his breath every time he had to pass the gauze around her back.

Toph's breath caught in her throat as whenever the his cheek came close to her face. She sat as still as she could, and hoped that she was breathing like a lecherous old man. He was close enough that would catch the smell of sandalwood and a mix of something else that was uniquely his. She felt the cool air on her bare skin as he unrolled all of the gauze, exposing the dressing. She could feel the heat of his gaze on her. The shamelessness about her body that came with her blindness, disappeared and she was suddenly filled with the modesty that she rarely had. Aang's breath caught in his throat as he exposed more of her skin than he should ever have seen. Her body was lean like a fighter, and like a fighter, she held scars from her battles. He traced one idly with a finger and felt her stiffen under his touch.

"Sorry," he muttered, his breath warm against her skin.

She turned away, a blush rose up to her cheeks again.

Sensing this, he cupped her warm cheek and turned it so that he could look her in the eye. Her eyes were averted from his. "Toph look at me," he begged gently. Her cloudy green eyes looked at him. "You're beautiful, don't let anyone say otherwise," his breath ghosted over her already hot skin as he began to rewind the gauze around her. When he was done, his hand lingered on her hip, rubbing small circles on the bare skin unconsciously. Their bodies were still close and they did nothing to move apart.

A crash outside snapped the two out of their reverie, making them turn towards the source from the window.

Aang rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I'll return the basket," he mumbled, gathering the soiled material quickly. He got up from the bed and she heard his soft footfalls going towards the door. She leaned back, closing her eyes while exhaling the breath that she did not realize that she was holding. A pair of warm lips kissed her forehead, snapping her back to reality. It left as quickly as it came, a hasty escape.

Toph patted her burning face, she felt like she was going to spontaneously combust anytime. A smile formed on her face, she could tell, this boy was going to be trouble.

* * *

And that's my hand at the beginnings of a romance. I'm trying. I leave it to my imagination. Hopefully it's not lacking lol. See ya!


	5. Chapter 5

Hello! I am sorry for not updating like I promised, but here it is! I'm sorry if there are any grammar mistakes! I am really bad at editing. Most of these chapters happen at 3am and not with a very clear mind lol. I read the last 4 chapters and cringed at my mistakes.

I hope you enjoy this!

* * *

Chapter 5

Aang stood outside the room and sagged against the wall next to the door. "I am such a coward," he muttered, sighing. He couldn't help himself. The kiss had seemed only appropriate at the time. _No, I wanted to._

He had been watching over her, since he was awake himself a few days ago. He had to make sure that the deep regular breathing kept on going, or that she wasn't too cold or too hot, even though the healers had told him that she was already in the clear. He had moved himself into her room when he was awoken suddenly in the middle of the night by her screaming.

_He ran into the room, heart racing, thinking that Azula had somewhat snuck in and was about to kill Toph. He burst into the room, looking around for any intruders and felt a small sense of relief that there was no one there. He looked down at Toph and saw that she was trashing and writhing, yelling incoherent words. Under his feet, he felt a slight tremor and heard the bricks in the wall shifting._

"_TOPH, wake up!" he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently. One of her arms clipped him on his not too gently. She was still screaming incomprehensible words and flailing her arms._

"_What is going on in here?" Iroh asked, he saw Aang struggling with an unconscious Toph. _

"_I think she's having a nightmare," Aang said through gritted teeth as he avoided another hit. "She's burning up," he said as he gripped her wrists, "oh no you don't!" he told the unconscious girl when he felt the metal of the bed post take a grab at him._

_He had to grab her once again as she fought to sit up and pushed her back into the bed with the help of Iroh. She was flailing so much that Iroh almost got hit. Aang finally threw himself completely and drew her close to him, forcing her body against his to calm her down. Aang looked down at the panicked unseeing wide-eyes that begin to droop at his gentle mummurings. He felt her rigid body loosen, as he rubbed her back and mutter gently that she was in a safe place. She whimpered quietly to his lulling voice, her body was hot and flushed from a fever._

"_Nightmares," Iroh had commented to Lady Ursa, who stood cautiously by the door trying to comfort an anxious baby. In the dim light, Aang saw a sad look of understanding paint itself on the older man's face, as one comrade understanding the pain the other is going through. "I will bring some medicine."_

_Aang looked over and nodded, continuing his ministrations, which was calming her down as her whimpering and moans quieted down too. He dropped his body temperature, so that he was cooler than her and felt her mould more onto him. Once she was calmer, he laid her down gently. _

"_Here take Shou," Lady Ursa instructed, "I will bring a change of clothing and bandages."_

_He took a sleepy Shou and cradled the child against himself, adjusting the temperature to suit the baby. Looking at Toph, he saw that her trashing and re-opened her wound. He rubbed reassuring circles on her hand, to let her know that he was still there and settled onto the pillows next to her._

_Ursa and Iroh returned to the trio sleeping on the beds, dead to the world and their surroundings. Sharing a look they worked around the exhausted trio and let them sleep on_.

After that night, he just slept with Toph so that he could calm her down when she started to fuss in her unconsciousness. He would watch the moonlight glint off her dark hair and stroke her head gently whenever he felt her tremble, rubbing her back gently like a child. He began to feel responsible for protecting this loud and charismatic warrior, who trembled like a child when she got nightmares.

Shaking his head once more, Aang stood up and wearily made his way down the stairs.

"I heard that Toph is now awake," Iroh said winking at Aang.

"Yes, but she's still a little weak," Aang replied ignoring the knowing looks that Ursa and Iroh shared between them.

Ursa had definitely let her brother-in-law know what she had walked in to. "I changed her bandages, it is healing quite nicely," he informed them.

"I am sure that Shou and Lychee would like to see her right now," the Lady said with a gentle smile," They have been looking for her since she went unconscious."

As she left the room, the two males sat in silence, before Iroh broke the silence. "Are you going to leave now? You said that you would leave once she was awake."

"You're leaving without telling me Avatar?" a dangerous voice asked from the top of the stairs. The two males stilled and saw the source and of the voice standing at the top, with an apologetic looking Ursa behind her.

"I think there are customers calling for me," Iroh said hastily as he went to answer the non-existent call for service in the other room.

She had stood there at the top of the stairs, overhearing the conversation between the two males. Anger rose within her when she heard that that he was going to leave without telling her, especially after that kiss and comment. Ignoring the pain and her weakness, she made her way down, letting her anger fuel her. She was tougher than this pain. It wasn't the first time something like this happened.

Aang gulped and unconsciously took a step back. He saw walk down gracefully, making her way down the stairs with one hand placed on the banister to guide her. Her black hair hung loose down her back, shifting slightly to catch glints of sunlight with every step that she took. If he hadn't had known that she was a warrior, he would've thought that she was one of those fragile daughters from nobility. He held his breath when she came to him, wondering what she was going to do.

"I asked you a question Avatar," she said in a low threatening voice, poking him in the chest. The jab threw out any thought of her being a fragile daughter from nobility.

"I was going to go back to Omashu to help the others," he quickly said. "I was only going to stay until you woke up, to make sure you were going to be alright."

"I'm not some helpless child that needs taking care of," Toph shoved him away as hard as she could "I've had worse than this. Go to Omashu then!"

"Toph wait, I didn't mean it that way!" he went to grab her by her shoulders but she moved away too fast. "Wait...I did, but I don't see you as weak!"

"Don't touch me!" she ordered stepping away from him. He saw her sway a little and stepped forward in case she fell, but she steadied herself before going up the stairs. She squared her shoulders and stood a ways from him.

"And who is this Aang?" another feminine voice asked from the door way drawing their attention there. A girl slightly taller than Toph came into the room and stood next to Aang, grabbing a hold of his arm. Her eyes glinted dangerously at the Earthbender. The other female was slightly shorter than her and leaner, but she was sure that she could take her on if it was over Aang.

"Meng? What are you doing here?" Aang asked surprised at her presence. _How did she manage to find me?_

The girl looked at him piteously "I came in with the refugees and heard that you were here," she explained shyly standing right in between him and Toph. "You said that you were going to go to the festival with me. You left so suddenly," she was disappointedly. "I was so scared when the Fire Nation attacked."

Toph raised an eyebrow over folded arms. "Yes, Aang, you left so suddenly. It looks like it's a thing you do often."

"I was called to Omashu!" he tried explaining to both girls.

"But you promised that you were going to come back!" Meng said clinging onto his arm. She looked up at his handsome features and wished that those gray eyes were not looking at the other girl, but her. She saw him give her a guilty look, but his eyes flitted back to the other girl in green.

Looking at the other girl, "My name is Meng, his girlfriend," she stressed on the last word," and you are?" she asked offering her hand, which Toph did not unfold her arms to shake. Her head turned towards Meng, and that was when Meng realized that the other girl was blind when her cloudy green eyes looked past her.

Toph gave her a brilliant smile, "No one of importance. I was just on my way upstairs. Have a nice day with your boyfriend," she answered and walked away.

"Wait Toph!"

"How rude!" Meng huffed as she saw the other girl go up the stairs. She pulled on his arm, making him look down at her. "Show me around the Lower Ring Aang, I don't know my way around her yet," she said leading him towards the doorway. She felt him sigh, giving the staircase a final look before following her tugs.

* * *

Aang found her later on in the evening, after sending Meng off, in Shou's room. She was 'watching' Shou chase after a rolling stone ball on the ball. The ball would stop occasionally until the boy reached it, roll on when he got close, teasing him all the way. He watched the ball progress towards her and she caught the baby when he got close, bringing him onto her lap. She took her bracelet off her wrist and it began to form different shapes above her palm, captivating the boy.

"When you grow up, don't be as stupid as the Avatar," she instructed the small boy. She nuzzled against his soft hair. "You can't go kissing a girl and then leaving them without a notice," she instructed taking comfort in the baby's warmth.

Shou looked up at her, drooling and babbling in response.

"That sounds as a promise and I'm going to keep you to it," Toph said, giving the boy a bottle of milk.

She would've liked to throw a couple of rocks to vent out her frustrations, but Lady Ursa had cornered her and dropped Shou off into her arms. The Lady almost threw the baby at her and left quietly with a smile. _That woman is too cunning, _she thought holding the toddler who was cuddling happily with her. He was getting sleepy and showed it when he leaned against her and rubbed his eyes. She gathered him in her arms and walked around the room, where she rocked him gently till he fell asleep on her. She stilled when she heard the light footsteps coming from behind her. "Where's your girlfriend?"

Taking a gamble and hoping that she wouldn't retaliate with Shou in her arms, Aang wrapped his arms around the both of them, making her go rigid. The closeness caught her unexpectedly as she was slightly blind on the wooden floor, but she was paralyzed by his scent that brought familiar comfort. Speaking softly close to her ear, he whispered, "I will miss you when I'm gone. I had a fun time travelling with you."

He waited as he felt her relax a little. Toph cursed her rebellious that somehow moulded nicely into his, happy at the familiar tingles that came with it.

"Get lost Aang," she muttered rebelliously concentrating hard on the baby. She was angry at body's response and at him and she would show it through her words, if not her body.

She felt him sigh as his breath tickled her neck. His shoulders slumped, when she felt him put some of his weight on her. Like her element, she held fast and steady like her element.

He kissed Shou gently on the head over her shoulder. "Stay safe, Your Highness," he whispered without waking the baby up and released his hold on the both of them. When he left, Toph felt the warmth leaving with him, making her feel cold.

* * *

The trip back to Omashu on Appa was much shorter than the journey done by foot. As he flew over, under cloud cover, he saw that the army that was chasing them had camped out where they made their escape. From the high height, he could see pin pricks of fire and bodies that look like ants from the reflection of the armour. Wishing that he could go closer to get a better count, he continued onto Omashu. He made sure that he flew under the cloud cover since Appa's white body would just stick out like a sore thumb in the darken skies.

Sitting by Appa's head, he tried meditating, but all he could think about was Toph, her cool and calm stature that brimmed of confidence and the scared child that she could become under the assault of nightmares. He was starting to miss the physical closeness that he had with her from the constant contact that they had for the past month and half.

She was a stranger, but now a friend…or something more…maybe...hopefully.

He sighed, breaking out from his meditating pose. He rolled his neck and rubbed the back of his head. He had managed to just shave it and the wind felt nice on his skin.

Appa growled under him, alerting of their arrival to the other Earth Kingdom city. The Sky bison began his descent as Aang kept a lookout for any enemy Fire balloons that may also be hiding under the cloud cover. "It looks safe buddy," he petted his old time friend.

He let Appa steer himself into the courtyard that Bumi had prepared. An Earth Kingdom stable hand led Appa to pen, bidding him a good night with a pet on the side, Aang walked out the stable, eager to get to bed.

"Aang!" Katara called running towards him followed by Sokka and Suki. Zuko trailed behind in a stately manner, but briskly.

The Fire Lady threw her arms around him, hugging him closely. They drew apart when Zuko arrived to them. Katara looked over him, holding his head between her hands, as though checking for any hidden bumps or bruises that he may have. She looked tired and much thinner than before, when he left her in the night with her son.

"Aang, how is everything?" she asked. "How is Shou? And Toph? Is everybody fine? Did he cry?"

"Katara, you have to let him speak," Zuko said gently drawing her to him with an arm around her waist.

"I'm sorry," Katara apologized. Aang could see the worry that laced her eyes and the anxiety just quivering off her.

"It's okay," Aang placated her, "Shou has been wonderful. He is quite attached to Toph. We met a few platoons along the way, but we managed to meet up with Lord Iroh and reach Ba Sing Se," he said seeing her relax a little.

"You must be tired," Zuko said, "We can go in and talk about this inside." The Fire Lord led the way inside the building.

Aang trailed after the couples, taking in the environment of the city. There was definitely some damage to the walls that protected it, but he could see the construction crew making quick repairs to fortify them as much as they can. The air in the city was tense. He could feel in the wind currents when they were close to the city. It was tainted with smoke from the smog produced by the Fire Nation war machines and the stench of burnt organic material. He saw a mixture of different colours of uniform, people from different nations, all with a common blue cloth with a white circle or lotus on their sleeves.

"How are you and Toph getting along?" Katara asked looking behind.

Aang felt a blush creep onto his face and tried to suppress it, but Katara caught it. She grinned and gave her husband a look, making Zuko look down at her. He rolled his eyes at the crazy matchmaking scheme that was going through her head.

"She's not very happy with me right now," Aang said.

"Oh?" both women chorused.

"Meng showed up at the Jasmine Dragon the day I left," he explained.

"Your fan-club president?" Suki asked getting a heavy sigh from the Avatar.

"Her town came to Ba Sing Se as refugees," he explained. The older couple threw him a piteous look.

"You have to stop being so nice to her all the time, she just thinks that you like her back," Sokka advised the boy. Aang looked like he had just shouldered on the weight of the world again.

"But he's nice to everyone. That's part of his charm," Suki said glancing at him,"…and downfall."

"Buddy, that's just the one way street of leading the ladies on," he whispered.

"There is nothing wrong with being nice to everyone Sokka!" Katara said whacking her brother in the arm.

"Geez Katara, if you did the Fire Council, they wouldn't be rebelling at this moment!"

Katara drew her water whip out threateningly causing him to stand on the other side of Suki who rolled her eyes.

"Oh my, my hero. Look how gallant he is," Suki teased.

"Hey! You try being on the receiving end of that thing!" he protested making his wife giggle.

"I can't exactly brush them off! I'm supposed to be accommodating," Aang said forlornly.

"Being too accommodating will never get you anywhere but just at the shitty end of the stick," Sokka said. "You can be so decisive and stubborn when it comes to treaties but horrible when it comes to women."

"So I should treat women like treaties?" Aang said making Sokka laugh and the receiver of a jab from Suki's fan. "_What is with the violence?"_

"No, not that," Suki said.

"Just treat them like you're treating a diplomat," Zuko said getting tired of this topic. "Cautious on the inside, but open on the outside."

"Zuko!" Katara said smacking her husband in the arm. "That's just telling him to not trust anything!"

"What? It's the truth!"

"Is that how you treat me?"

"…."

"ZUKO!" Katara said indignantly making Sokka laugh as he shied away slightly.

Suki turned towards Aang, "Just say whatever you think you should say, but just be careful."

Aang nodded, studying the couples around him. At times like this, he really did feel like the 18- year-old that he was supposed to be and lacking in confidence.

Sokka and Suki left them as they reached the palace for their rooms bidding them a good night.

"I am doing a night shift at the infirmary tonight, so I will see you in the morning," Katara bid the group a goodnight. She kissed Zuko and left him, but not with a longing gaze and reluctantly letting go of his hand.

Aang looked away awkwardly, giving them privacy. A little part of him, wanted that to happen to him one day to, bringing his thoughts back to Toph.

Zuko watched the door close behind his wife, standing there for a moment, missing her. After a moment he turned his gaze to Aang and they continued deeper into the building.

"Ozai's army stopped attacking us two weeks after you left," Zuko explained. "The White Lotus army joined with whatever battalions that were still fighting under my name. It's been too quiet since. "

"Zuko," Aang paused, "we met Azula at the Serpent's Pass."

Zuko stopped in his tracks. "No one except for the 6 of us knew when you were leaving. Were you guys really alright? I will send some of my men there."

Silence hung between them, but they were thinking the same thing, _Spy_.

"We managed to give Lord Iroh the prince before Azula arrived. Toph and I were the distraction so that they could leave," Aang said. "Toph got badly injured and was unconscious for a week. I just waited till she was awake before I left."

Zuko chuckled, "She must've been angry and thought that she was being left behind?"

"How did you now that?"

"I went on a few missions with her and a small group of men before I really took the throne. Broken arm or no, she wouldn't stay put," Zuko smiled fondly. "She threatened to bury us all if we even thought about doing it."

"She had Shou on her lap when I left."

"My mother is a smart woman," Zuko grinned. "And my kid is too fucking adorable let go."

Aang chuckled at the small moment of parental pride that Zuko had for his only child.

* * *

Five dark-clothed figures crept silently through the Jasmine Dragon. They had made sure to drug the food of the house occupants hours before they all went to bed. With quiet footsteps, they walked in with confidence, having the blueprints of the establishment beforehand by one of their spies. Although they knew that the occupants were drugged, they still could not be too overconfident since things could always go wrong unexpectedly.

The team leader directed his team accordingly. Two of the intruders were on the lookout and the other two followed him as he entered the baby's room. Reaching into the crib, he took the baby out from it. Shou barely stirred from the removal, being drugged himself.

Putting the baby into a satchel they brought along, the team made their way out of the room as quietly as they could.

"And where do you think you're going?" a dangerous voice spoke from the darkness.

"I thought you said that they were all drugged!" the leader hissed to one of his members.

"I did!" they protested. "Look she can barely stand! And she's blind!" as they saw her better under the moonlight. They saw her lean against the wall, using it as support in her drugged state.

Two sharp metal objects flew towards the group, hitting the speaker in the shoulder and the other one barely missing.

"Shit!" the third member retaliated by throwing their own knives at her, which she managed to block a little slowly.

Toph swore in her head as she still felt the effects of the drug on her body, making it feel heavy. She barely avoided the next three that came towards her. Feeling for the metal around the house, she brought them towards herself like a magnet and directed it at the trio, making them run down the stairs. She managed to get one through the leg, trapping one by the metal penetrating itself through their thigh.

"Just leave him!" the leader said to his partner through the muffled scream of their dying companion as they were trapped by metal vines. He swerved to the right, just narrowly being hit by a metal projectile.

In her concentration of attacking the three intruders and the drug effects, Toph did not sense the presence of the other two intruders who snuck up behind her. She felt the bite of cold steel on her back, which exploded in pain, giving her a small moment of clarity. Using that small window, she tried calling the metal back to her again to form a shield. The intruders saw what she was doing and knocked her unconscious.

The two lookouts left the building as swiftly as they entered, letting the girl lay in her pool of blood.

* * *

A/N: So how is it?


End file.
